<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Random aHiT stuff by Essebbih</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25632610">Random aHiT stuff</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Essebbih/pseuds/Essebbih'>Essebbih</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Hat in Time (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Agent Evans, Angst, Arrow in the Knee, Bad Jokes, Birthday Party, Blackmail, Bow has angst, Bow is precious, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Death Wish, Destruction is names, Drawing, Film recording, Finally some Chamomile, Game of Tag, Gen, Gift, Golden Menace, I mean, Important Talks, Kid invasion, Mild Spoilers, Missed Chamomile, Mu missed them, New Friendships, Past Nightmares, Piggyback Ride, Pride is named, Purple Priest, Ramingo the Red, Reading, Reunion, Revelations, Second Chance, Sewing, Shapeshifting, Sheriff and Bandit, Slender express, Slice of Life, Tag, Tag (game), The Moon - Freeform, Threats, William Rosie, Wings, Yeeting threat, angst for little things, bad memories, bad wordplay, big sniff, calf grabbing, cheating game's physics engine for good, escalation of kids' games, escape from the Mustached girl, fake duels for a movie, fake villain for a movie, falling on sand, fear of wolves, from games to battlefield, homemade parachutes, hot like 40°C, insane vengeance, language learning, language teaching, long discussion, must look after her, prank, ruined reputation, smug, so why should he think about not saying stuff for what they really are, spaceship, standoff - Freeform, they can't understand him, will add characters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:28:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25632610</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Essebbih/pseuds/Essebbih</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a bunch of random ideas.<br/>Don't expect too much of a plot.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Shapeshifting surprise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warning: It contains mild spoilers. It is highly recommended to finish the game before reading.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a calm day at the spaceship. The kids decided to relax for a few days, so they weren’t searching for Time Pieces. This meant that Slender could get up from his chair, not having to worry about the kids’ safety nor having to find new locations for their hourglasses. He knew the kids were always full of energy but he didn’t know that by “relaxing” they meant literally doing what they do on every normal day, just without getting out of the spaceship. They ran around, did their things like drawing, messing with cables, smug dancing or annoying everyone in the ship, ate stuff and slept whenever they felt tired. He didn’t mind though: as long as they didn’t get in his way, they were free to do whatever they wanted. The girls seemed to understand this and always thought twice before deciding to disturb him. This, however, didn’t mean that he was completely immune from their influence. At times they hid his chair in the furthest place they could think of, or they would just lay some hundred pages of drawings on top of his shelf, destroying another of his keyboards. Sometimes they even thought about a prank, but never actually tried it.</p><p>While thinking about the current situation, Slender got out of his room and was going to enter the kitchen when he noticed an unusual color on top of the teleporter. He deformed his body to be able to see what was above the machine and he found a beach ball, probably tossed by the kids and stuck there while playing, forcefully ending their game since they weren’t tall enough to actually get up there. As he hypothesized about the reason for the ball to be in such a place, Hat kid got out of her bedroom after a well-deserved nap and while walking towards the machine room she noticed the distorted form in front of her teleporter. She was going to shriek, but she recognized Slender’s form and suddenly realized that he could bend his body at will. As this thought hit her mind, she shouted at him «You can shapeshift!?!», with clear excitement in her voice.</p><p>The alien turned to her, surprised by Hat Kid’s sudden appearance because he didn't hear her steps, too quiet for his focused mind. The only reasonable answer was «Yes», but he managed to pronounce it like a question as he still wasn’t used to control his voice pitch after many years of practice. As he answered the kid, she was getting even more enthusiast, surely coming up with some of her crazy ideas, he tossed the ball away and then returned to his natural form. Hat Kid’s eyes were now full of excitement and you could see some stars in her irises, clearly a warning sign.</p><p>«Cool! Can you transform into people?». Her hands were near her head and she was almost jumping on her feet. Another warning sign, but Slender wanted to see what she had in mind.</p><p>«Like this?». The man turned around to transform into a purple-skinned version of the girl, like when she wore the dress the ghost made her. The only difference were the eyes, that resembled more the original owner, being perfectly rectangular with two pupils (one green and the other red) that looked straight at the kid in front of him.</p><p>«Yes!» she almost shouted with uncontrollable joy in her voice. «Wooow, so cool~» She was staring at him, looking at his figure. He wanted to tease her, showing off his ability that clearly entertained her, just to feel more of his usual pride.</p><p>«I might copy you perfectly, but I like to put style in what I do».</p><p>«You can copy the voice too?». The kid was now astonished. Slender always forgot that shape-shifting didn't necessarily imply being able to mimic someone’s voice. He remembered the day when he decided to replace his vocal cords with a synthesizer so that he could make any voice he would ever want. As he was thinking, Bow kid got out of the door below him. She looked calm at first but as soon as she saw her friend with such an excitement she smiled and asked «What is happening here?», clearly wanting to join the fun. Before she could turn around to face what her hatted friend was looking at, Slender quickly changed shape again to be perfectly similar to Hat Kid, so that his prank would be more credible.</p><p>«I don’t know! I was going to eat some biscuits but then <em>She</em> appeared out of nowhere!» he said, pointing at the original Hat Kid. As Bow Kid heard the voice, she turned around as planned and as soon as she saw <em>another</em> Hat Kid, her face showed obvious confusion. She then proceeded to turn her head towards each Hat Kid alternately a couple of times before saying «Another Hattie?!?». Her friend, covering her mouth as she was trying to hold back laughs, quickly explained the situation to her: «Don’t listen to him, it’s just Slender».</p><p>She didn’t realize at first but as the kid near the kitchen winked at her, all her confusion turned into astonishment and excitement in a quick gasp, now joining her friend in the realization of the endless fun activities that could be done. The original hatted kid suddenly started to jump on spot as she thought of something, turned to her clone and requested «Oh! Oh! I have an idea! Do Snatcher!».</p><p>«Ohohoh, I like where this is going!» he replied right before twirling and generating a cloud of purple smoke that quickly surrounded him, not letting the kids see the whole transformation. There was a short pause, after which the infamous ghost appeared from the smoke, launching himself towards the girls and stopping a few inches from their faces shouting «FOOOOOOOLLL!». Although they got a bit scared (and Hat Kid let out a small yelp) from the sudden introduction, the kids quickly recovered and were now giggling for the perfect personifying.</p><p> </p><p>All the noise they were causing disturbed the <em>real</em> ghost, that was in his usual corner in the kids’ bedroom, trying to read his favorite book, “How to kill kids”. He was used to read with background noise when he was alive, but all the years in his quiet tree made him very sensitive. It was totally not because he feared the return of Vanessa, it surely was because he had to keep an eye out for intruders and to listen if his traps were activated. He didn’t mind too much about it, but as soon as he heard someone say “Snatcher” he became curious and when he heard some giggles AND someone mimicking his voice he had enough. Not only these brats were making such a racket but they were also making fun of <em>him</em>. With anger in his eyes, he quickly closed the book and left it where he sat before bursting out of the bedroom and shouting «WHO DARES TO MAKE FUN OF ME?».</p><p>He was quickly welcomed by… his own face?!? It shouted at him «WHO DARES TO STEP INTO MY FOREST?» while the girls in the background were literally rolling on the floor, laughing at the scene. His confusion stunned him for a second before getting angrier and responding «<strong>ENOUGH!</strong>» so loudly and annoyed that everyone went silent. The kids were now staring at him with a mix of guilt and fear in their eyes while his clone slowly retreated to his original form, maintaining his grin in the process. «C’mon, man. It was pretty funny».</p><p>«It was <em>you</em>?» Snatcher replied, pointing the claw he had instead of fingers towards the shapeshifting alien, quickly continuing «Since when can you shapeshift?». The jokester was now stretching his arms, as if his prank made him remember of some muscles he hadn’t used in a while, meanwhile the girls got up, still looking with a bit of fear at the angry victim and unconsciously trying to hide inside the hallway to the engine room, peeking with their heads from the corner. «Quite a lot actually. I don’t remember exactly when I got it but –»«All right, that’s enough. I don’t care about your stupid past. Don’t you DARE make fun of me ever again, or else…». The unfinished sentence was obviously put as an intimidation, but Slender quickly replied to him. «Or else?».</p><p>How. Dare. Him. With that look on his face. He had a <em>smug face</em>. He totally learned how to do it from the brats, but it was still an INSULT to his reputation. But worst of all, Snatcher knew that the jokester was aware about his true powers and its limits. He knew he couldn’t handle him, especially after what that Mustached brat did when she tried to end the kids’ lives when she stole all of their Time pieces. On the bright side the kids didn’t know it, so he just had to maintain his façade for as long as they were nearby. Since the alien would have surely continued to tease him for his useless threats, he had to quickly end the discussion in an intimidating way so that the kids would still respect him, thus he responded with his usual smile (although it was slightly distorted by how annoyed he was), gesturing with his claw a head popping off and saying «You’ll see…» menacingly, while quickly phasing through the wall once again before returning to his usual spot to <em>maybe</em> relax a little.</p><p>Luckily, there were no more noises for the whole day and the ghost could peacefully end his book before the kids had to go to bed.</p><p>He really hated that guy.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Birthday Gift</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So basically I had an idea.<br/>Then I made a first draft.<br/>Then I tried to make it better.<br/>But then I had another idea.<br/>And another.<br/>And another.<br/>And it ended up being this long.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Few days had passed since the shapeshift event and everything went more or less back to normal. It was just another series of random events happening from time to time. The kids started again their search for Time Pieces, but it seemed like they weren’t in such a hurry like their first days lost in space. They didn’t find more than one hourglass per day and sometimes they would find only one in a whole week, whereas they found more than 5 in their first day stranded. It didn’t matter much, but given that he had charts and graphics about everything and cameras almost everywhere meant that it was impossible not to notice those changes. If things kept going like that Slender would have needed to have a little talk with the kids. Speak of the devil, a little knocking could be heard coming from the door, faint and subtle.</p><p>«Uhm… Hey, Slendy…»</p><p>It was Hat Kid. She spoke with a quiet voice, making the situation sound suspicious. He instantly opened the door and she quickly entered the room after double-checking she was not seen. It was clearly not her usual behavior. Slender closed the door and silently locked it so that no one else could come in. The girl was holding something with her right hand but she hid it behind her back as soon as she entered the room, not giving him the time to look at what it was.</p><p>«Yes?» he answered, clearly requesting for some explanation. The girl was now slightly embarrassed, her face starting to blush as if she was going to ask a personal favor or an approval for whatever she was doing.</p><p>«Do you… still accept requests for shapeshifting?». She tried to look at him before finishing the question, but the pressure of his gaze made her quickly return to stare at the floor.</p><p>«Sure, what is it?» he answered, getting up from his usual spot, trying not to jump to conclusions.</p><p>«Can you… become Bow Kid for a moment?»</p><p>An odd request. Sure, he could do it, but he preferred knowing the reason behind such awkwardness and subtlety. He would actually have done it regardless, in fact he transformed as requested: he couldn’t resist to her explicit embarrassment, only found in those with a pure heart or good intentions.</p><p>As he transformed he continued with his usual voice «Here, what is it that you need from this form?». The question, though, made the little girl’s embarrassment ever more visible as she slowly took the item from her back. It was a dress…? It was surely a work in progress, so it didn’t have all of the required features to be classified as a dress, with some holes here and there probably where she wasn’t sure about the size and in general completely useless as it was.</p><p>«I…» a short pause underlined her clear awkwardness in revealing the little project she was spending her time with.  «I… wanted to make Bow Kid a dress for her birthday, but I cannot ask her to try it on, so…».</p><p>It all made sense now: most children think twice before showing their hobbies and projects to parental figures because they fear their reaction. Those were the kind of moments that would change a child’s activities: support them and they would keep their hobbies until their adulthood; reject them and they would both lose interest in their hobbies and feel like they can’t do anything useful. This meant, though, that she saw him as a “parental figure” ... It may have not been the case since the kid was an alien, which meant that they may have a different psychology from the human beings considered in the studies… This was getting off-topic.</p><p>«Wait… you know how to sew?» the purple Bow kid responded, with a voice absolutely not fitting her appearance. «I mean, you did make your hats in a couple of seconds, but…». The question was a good way to get distracted from the implications of the whole situation, but it also didn’t resolve it, only extending the awkwardness.</p><p>«Yeah, I’ve been trying to get some lessons from Snatcher». She was still feeling embarrassed from exposing her secret, but it seemed that talking about it made her feel slightly better. «I knew how to make basic fabric and my hats, but clothes are much more difficult… Luckily, he’s a very good teacher… when he wants to…»</p><p>«Well, you know him. He has a “reputation” to maintain» he answered, clearly listening to what she was saying and trying to cheer her up by mocking the ghost. «Well, I’m here if you need a model!». That’s how the problem was solved. It was still somewhat awkward, but if the kid was happy and didn’t waste her precious talent, it was a good thing.</p><p>«Thank you…» Hat Kid said while giving the “dress” to the purple Bow Kid; he wore it and T-posed to make it easier for the seamstress to look at how it suited him. «Oh, and don’t tell her about this…» she continued.</p><p>«Of course»</p><p> </p><p>The “meetings” were repeated multiple times in a week-long period and the progress was steady.</p><p>«I like how it’s coming along» said the Bow-wearing not-so-kid. It seemed to be a pajama but since it was still a work in progress the details were far from being done.</p><p>«Reawwy?» replied the now flattered Hat kid, with a couple of pins between her lips distorting her talk as she was moving around him, pinning specific points of the dress.</p><p>«Yes, it’s pretty good for someone of your age. I mean, it’s already a lot that you know how to sew»</p><p>«Hehe∼» said the kid, with her hopeful starry eyes shining at the sound of the compliment, making her blush a little. She made a very bright and big smile that made Slender proud of his answers and support for the kid. It meant a lot to be able to support someone on such a close level, and in particular not to mess anything up in the process. The wrong word or sentence in the wrong place could make a very huge difference – and breaking the now happy and productive atmosphere.</p><p>He still didn’t ask the kid when was Bow kid’s birthday-</p><p>«Ouch! Don’t get too distracted!» A pin went the wrong way and scratched against Slender’s purple skin, slightly distorting the shapeshifting from the sudden pain.</p><p>«Oh! Sowwyyy!» she said as she started to look around the non-existent injury with a worried face, fearing to mess up again.</p><p>«You’re lucky I’m a tough one». It was all just for show. It didn’t hurt him that much nor it mattered to him about the pain. It was the shapeshifting he had to concentrate to do: if he got too distracted he would have messed up his Bow kid form and he could potentially rip apart the dress. Days of work lost in a matter of seconds. Better to keep his focus.</p><p> </p><p>The sessions lasted as much as Hat Kid needed. It usually was a matter of one hour; a couple of minutes if she had problems with single parts or if she forgot something. At first the sessions were only about modeling, but the kid got used to actually work there all the time, giving Slender the chance to look at her improvements. He had to make a chair and a table for her since his room had nothing but filing cabinets and his desk, occupied by four of his many monitors, his keyboard and a lot of papers laying around.</p><p>It was almost done when she asked him to model for her again. The pajama was good on touch, feeling like a very soft fur and heating the user with a very comfortable and soporific warmth. It felt like being <em>hugged</em> by warmth and comfort. It felt like heaven. He wouldn’t wear anything else in bed, especially during cold, dark winter nights. Too bad he didn’t need to sleep anymore since he used cryosleep. He should try to change that, but old habits die hard.</p><p>While he was heating inside that pajama, Hat kid quickly started pinning the areas of the dress she was interested when she noticed the model was getting… smaller? She looked at his face to find a purple Bow kid with pure bliss on her face… slowly… melting? Literally?!?</p><p>«Uhm… Slender?»</p><p>He slowly opened his eyes just enough to see his interlocutor, still dazzled by the warmth he never experienced through a dress. «Hmm?». He couldn’t even form words, not while being so distracted anyway.</p><p> «Uhhh… you’re… melting?»</p><p> He fully opened his eyes, looking at his shoulders and realizing he was actually becoming like a goop. He quickly restored the model and tried to concentrate more on his form than anything else. But the warmth. <strong>The warmth.</strong> It was just too much.</p><p>«You like it that much?» said Hat kid, looking at him with a soft yet worried smile.</p><p>«This is the best pajama you could ever make» he slowly replied. He actually had to force himself his form, something he didn’t have to do since the days he discovered his shapeshifting powers. It was somewhat embarrassing, but he could bet everyone would have his same problems if they experienced such overwhelming sleepiness in a matter of seconds. Still, he could pay some of his attention to the kid’s movements when he heard a knocking from the door.</p><p>«Slender? Are you there?». It was Bow Kid. At the sound of her voice Hat Kid let out a small yelp, more like an <em>eep</em> sound, and hid behind him. Luckily the door was locked and Bow could not enter, but if she tried to, she would have gotten suspicious, so he had to make up a reasonable motivation for not letting her in. Or he could just use his influence as an adult against the kid. «I’m pretty busy over here, what is it?»</p><p>«Did you see Hat Kid around? I’ve been looking for her for quite a while» the girl answered from the other side of the door, resulting in a muffled voice that could be heard only because she was almost screaming.</p><p>«I don't see her around and the computer isn’t finding anything suspicious. Maybe she’s at Mafia Town?»</p><p>«You’re right! I didn’t check there! Thank you!». The voice got smaller and smaller as she continued, meaning that she was actually going to Mafia Town. It worked. As he heard the sound of teleporting from the other room, he let out a small sigh as the Hat Kid behind him let out a much bigger one while wiping some sweat.</p><p>«Thank you… I’m sorry you had to lie to her. I know you don’t like to do that»</p><p>« What lying? You weren’t in my line of sight, thus “I don't see her around”»</p><p>«You sound like Snatcher sometimes…» the small girl chuckled.</p><p>«That’s because we know that if you tell only what is necessary and keep the rest for yourself, you <em>always</em> tell the truth»</p><p>She gasped in astonishment, not expecting such a reply from him. «That’s not fair! It’s still somewhat a lie».</p><p>«I would call it “Information management”. I choose what is best for you not to know. I once heard a wise man say “I know the truth but I can’t reveal it. If I did, you would go crazy” … or something like that».</p><p>«That doesn’t justify your actions! And who is this guy anyway?»</p><p>«I dunno! I just heard him say it. Besides, this little trick of mine just saved you from spilling our little secret» he replied, now having a smug face that clearly showed how proud he was of his response and how confident he was that he had won the “argument”. The kid, in fact, stayed silent for a while, slightly covering her mouth with her index, before saying «Fair point, but I don’t like it», making the man giggle.</p><p>Bow kid’s visit only meant that she was getting very suspicious, so Hattie had to quickly finish the pajama, or Bow would have found out. «How much longer do you think it will take you to finish the dress?»</p><p>«I don’t know, I think one or two hours. It’s almost finished» she replied right before gesturing him to undress so that she could return to work.</p><p>«Perfect. You should also think about a reasonable place you’ve been during this time so that Bow won’t get too suspicious».</p><p>«Uhhh… couldn’t you do it for me while I finish here?» she replied as she went to the table to do the last arrangements.</p><p>«Ugh… what about going in a Time rift to relax? You know… with the pleasant blue view and the background music?» he said while returning to his usual form and sitting at his desk, moving the monitors away so that he could face Hat Kid while talking to her.</p><p>She sat with the dress still on her hands before she stopped. «Background music?». She turned her head to him as if she never heard of such a thing. She probably just couldn’t hear it and he may have actually caused some fourth wall breakage.</p><p>«Forget it. Just the blue view».</p><p>«Well, it might actually work out», her face now focusing back on the dress.</p><p>«Anyway, I never actually asked you when Bow’s birthday is». He restored the monitors’ original position, looking to find the kid’s file so that he could update it with her birthdate.</p><p>«It’s tomorrow»</p><p>He froze for a moment. He didn’t have the time to take her anything special. When he occasionally found himself near a birthday, he would have given the guest of honor something that they would have certainly liked, planning the gift days before the event. But he did not have time. «And you’re only telling me now?» </p><p>«What? You never asked it, so I thought you knew it. You always know everything…»</p><p>Doom. He didn’t know what to give her. He had 24 hours, sure, but it was not enough: the next day was a cryosleep day, so he had to go to “sleep” for 12 hours nonstop, leaving him with...</p><p>«And we’re going to celebrate early in the morning…»</p><p>Devastation. Less than 11 hours. And worst of all, he did not have enough <strong>information</strong> about her tastes. Complete annihilation. He had to resort to his worst-case scenario.</p><p>«So you <em>actually</em> don’t know everything, hmm∼?» The kid was mocking him. She was adding insult to his grave injury. Well, at least it was better than “forgetting” her birthday or not to make her a gift. Now he had to find a persuasive talk to give her with the gift so that it may have not seemed to be completely chosen last minute (or more like last day). Last time he heard of such a thing was last Christmas, when he heard people trying to buy anything on Christmas’ Eve not to go empty handed. Man, he was pitiful.</p><p>«I don’t have anything to give her for her birthday…» he stated with a lower voice than usual, reaffirming his defeat in complete sorrow as his eyes narrowed and he put his hand in front of his mouth. He was not crying; he was just devastated he could not maintain his high standards for once.</p><p>«I wouldn’t think too much about it. Just get her anything. I once gave her a book because I totally forgot her birthday. It was not even in our language, but she accepted it anyway with much more joy than I thought»</p><p>Even if she was right and he would have not made a bad impression, the damage was already done.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t manage to get anything done that day. He decided to go to “rest” earlier than scheduled so that he could just face the problem without having to wait more than necessary. It was already agonizing the way it was, and feeling it for longer than needed was surely something he did not want to experience.</p><p>The day finally arrived. He got out of the cryochamber and made himself some chamomile tea, trying to relax without having to use his potions. He stared at the planet in front of him. No anomalies were detected during his sleep nor other Time Pieces or Time rifts. He checked the clock. It was early morning, 6:30 AM. No one should be awake right now, except for the ghost of course. He probably didn’t get the kid any gift. He would have just told her that his gift was another of his special death wish contracts and <em>maybe</em> put a reward for its completion.</p><p>He told Hat kid to tell Bow to come to him if she wanted her gift. It’s not like he was a coward, he just didn’t want to face her unprepared. And he was getting psychologically prepared. Sort of.</p><p>He heard some noise coming from outside. He figured it was probably Cooking Cat trying to make breakfast, but it <em>did</em> imply that someone was awake. Strange, the kids never got up at this time. He decided to sit at his desk and check through the cameras who was causing a ruckus so early in the morning while sipping his chamomile to find that… Bow kid was already awake? She didn’t look too good too, with some bags under her eyes and a zombie-like walk. She was coming out of the kitchen and was probably going back to bed when she stopped a few meters from the door leading to her bedroom and looked away instead. She was looking at the door <em>leading to his room</em>? What was this, a night shift with murderous robots? <em>And she actually started walking towards it.</em> Peck peck peck peck. He was so not ready for this. Chamomile was not enough.</p><p> </p><p>The little girl stared at the door. She tried to knock but she stopped herself. What if he was still in his “sleep” of sorts? What if she disturbed him? As those thoughts crossed her mind, she lowered her hand. He was probably the only person she could talk to this early in the morning. Besides Cooking Cat of course, but she was already making her breakfast. It would have felt awkward to talk about her problems with her: she probably would have been a bother. Then she thought “Whatever! This is <strong>my</strong> birthday after all” and she actually knocked on the door with determination, still trying not to make it sound too loud so that she did not disturb other’s sleep. The door opened.</p><p>«Yes?»</p><p>«Good morning, Slendah». Her voice was very soft and low, probably because she awoke shortly. </p><p>«Good morning to you, Bow kid. Happy birthday. How is it that you’re awake this early?». He was more stressed than he would have thought: he was a Slender after all. He fought battles and defeated much worse foes, and yet he had problems with little relationships and talks. How pitiful. He still didn’t manifest any of his emotions through his usual serious face; this time accompanied by a little smile, more out of nervousness than being polite, but it still managed to look sympathetic.</p><p>«I couldn’t get some sleep…»</p><p>«Why’s that?». As she was entering the room, clearly wanting to stay and continue the conversation, Slender summoned a pouf, clearly much more comfortable and appropriate to her situation.</p><p>«I get too excited. You know, the surprise parties, the amazing gifts, the people I invited… It is hard to think of anything else and it just… doesn’t let me sleep» she replied as she sat on the large red cushion.</p><p>«Sounds like this isn’t the first time»</p><p>«In fact it isn’t. I have this problem… pretty often… like, when we lost the Time Pieces, I couldn’t sleep for days. It is going to drive me crazy.». She let out a big yawn, sluggishly covering her mouth. She probably didn’t sleep for more than three hours.</p><p>«I think Hat Kid has the solution, but don’t tell her I told you, she might get mad»</p><p>«Hmm? What do you mean?». She was now rubbing her eyes still half closed.</p><p>«Secret. She’ll tell you later. Oh, and since you’re here I would like to give you my gift. You see, I prefer the guest to choose what it’s best for them, so I decided to give you a special scroll of mine. It grants you a wish. Whatever you want, it will be done. Just, think three times before using it, okay? These things aren’t exactly easy to make» he said as he stood up from his usual spot, got near the kid and handed her the scroll, slightly bowing in the process.</p><p>«What? Any wish?»</p><p>«Any wish»</p><p>Her eyes slowly opened up, revealing her sparking dark purple irises. «This is… AMAZING! Can you believe that? A wish! Anything I might ever want! Thank you, Slender, thank you so much!» She was jumping on her feet with newfound energy and she hugged him as soon as she got near him.</p><p>Well, it went much better than expected. Even though he should have expected that “The wish scroll” would have made the trick. It always did back in the days.</p><p>As she was jumping around the room (luckily without mistakenly destroying anything in the process like her friend always managed to do) someone else entered. It was Hat Kid, that seemed to have rested much better than the birthday girl. She was visibly excited but Slender could see some stress in her eyes as she had her gift in her hands. It was a cubic box, colored with green wide stripes on a light blue background and a shiny yellow bow to close it.</p><p>«Happy birthday, Bow!» she excitedly said to get her attention. «I’ve got a gift for you∼» she continued in a sing song voice. </p><p>Bow Kid immediately stopped jumping and she slowly turned her head to face her nervous friend with a large smile and starry eyes. «Hattie!» was all she said as she run towards her to give her a warm hug. They both giggled for a while before Hat continued «Go on, it’s all just for you».</p><p>With the excitement only found in kids opening gifts, Bow untied the yellow string on the box and carefully grabbed its upper side to lift it up and place it on the pouf that was just next to them. As she looked inside her eyes were literally shining, almost <em>emitting</em> light. She took the pajama from the box while looking at it with absolute astonishment. Slender noticed its last-minute added details: it had cute cat ears; below the sleeves there were pink cat paws; a small tail came from the back and there were pockets adorned with cat-styled buttons. It was just perfect for someone like Bow Kid.</p><p>She hurriedly wore it, not caring about having two pajamas at the same time and she felt all the bliss that made Slender melt few days ago. She was in heaven too. «Thank you» was all she could say while feeling the warmth of the pajama. All of her energies were being deprived as all of her lost hours of sleep came back to remind her of her almost sleepless night. She sat on the pouf-like chair Slender made her and continued «Really, thanks» before yawning. «You should see the amazing gift Slender gave me». And another yawn.</p><p>«What is it?» Hat kid said, turning to the alien.</p><p>«It’s called “Wish scroll”. It grants a wish to the owner. Any kind of whish»</p><p>«Whaaat? I want one!»</p><p>«Maybe on your birthday» he replied, turning to Bow kid and finding her silently sleeping, with a very relaxed and calm face. Her posture made her look like a real cat. She was on her left side, slightly curled up, and her new cat-like pajama couldn’t make anyone think of anything else. «I told you it feels good. You should make one for yourself and try it on» he quietly said before gesturing to the kid to remain silent as not to wake the neko-Bow up.</p><p>There were people invited to her birthday, but they could wait some more hours. She deserved to rest.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a good spot for taking a break.<br/>Drink some water, turn the phone off for 5 minutes, enjoy some Peace and Tranquility.</p><p>- After this chapter Sequences will start to appear -</p><p>~ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQkPcPqTq4M">Some music for chilling </a>~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Film Time - Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>«Slender»</p><p>«Ugh. What is it this time?». It was Hat Kid, who opened the door without entering. She was dressing much different from her usual outfit: she had a long, fancy black glittering dress, with some golden bracelets and tear shaped earrings. You could not see what kind of shoes she had because of the length of the dress, but they were probably some trainers: she would have never worn anything that could possibly limit her platforming and running abilities. It was surely for an important occasion.</p><p>«We’re going to Dead Bird Studio». After a moment Bow Kid came in sight, adjusting a white knot on her collar. She had a dark green flounced skirt that ended on her knees, with a white stripe on her waist and green ballet flats. They both looked fancy and nice in those dresses.</p><p>«Ok?!? And why are you telling me that?» </p><p>«Because you would lose your mind if you didn’t hear of us for more than an hour. We’re going to be the stars of the next films of the Conductor and DJ Grooves, so we’re going to be late tonight, ok?»</p><p>«That’s not true! I can find your position anywhere on the planet: I always know where you are».</p><p>«He didn’t deny he would go mad, though» she whispered to Bow, exchanging a giggle in the process.</p><p>«Stay out of trouble and don’t die in those directors’ deadly traps. You know how they like to spice up things just for the views».</p><p>«Yes, yes, don’t worry. See you later!»</p><p>«Bye!» said Bow, ending the conversation and running towards the Machine room to teleport to the Studio.</p><p>«Huff! Kids… interstellar travelers one day and stars the next one… I wonder what they’ll do tomorrow…» he finished, resuming his previous task.</p><p>The hours passed, though, and the kids weren’t coming back. They went to the Studio at about 4 PM and it was already midnight. They shouldn’t be up this late, so Slender decided to take a look at their current position. They were still in the Studio, so they probably weren’t in danger, but he would still go there and take them back to the Spaceship, maybe even scold them. They may be from an alien species but his studies proved that they had a metabolism similar to the human race, implying that they absolutely didn’t have the permission to stay up all night.</p><p>Oh, well. It’s not like he had anything special to do anyway, so he teleported to the Studio. He was in front of the entrance, in the middle of the desert, with absolutely nothing else around him except for the cars in the parking lots. The lights behind the sign clearly showed that it was still lively inside, so the recordings were still going.</p><p>He went inside, opening the tracking app on his HUD to have a more precise position of the kids. The entrance led to a straight corridor, ending to what seemed to be like a waiting room. The owl in the reception was sitting on his chair, with his legs on top of the counter, reading some newspaper. The sound of the entrance door opening alarmed him as he quickly hid the paper and got back to a straighter posture before getting up and closer to the counter. «Welcome, mister, what can I do for you?»</p><p>«Hello, I would like to know where the stars are at. They should be home by now»</p><p>«I have to know who you are before giving you access to the Studio»</p><p>«Uhm…». He was not as well-known as the kids in this world, even if he was by their side the whole time. He didn’t really want to use his powers for such a little thing, so he had to introduce himself properly… sort of at least. «I’m Slenderbrine, a friend. I came here to take them back home»</p><p>«Hmm… do you have a bird passport?»</p><p>«Do I look like a bird to you?»</p><p>«I dunno, the kids have a passport, so…»</p><p>«Oh, right, Groovey did that. No, I don’t have one».</p><p>«You shouldn’t be able to enter, but since you know DJ Grooves’ nickname that only his close friends use, I will make an exception and ask him if you can get in». He then proceeded to take a phone from below the counter to make a number and wait for the call to start. «Yes? Grooves? There’s this person, Slenderbrain, who says he’s a friend of the kids. Do I let him in?»</p><p>«It’s Slenderbrine». The owl quickly put a hand in front of him, signaling him to shut up so that he could hear the answer. It was kind of rude, but it was not like he should be able to get access to the Studio; he was also making an exception for him, so he let it pass.</p><p>«Ah-a. Ok» he put the phone down and continued «You can enter, but you have to first of all go to DJ Grooves, he will take you to the kids personally» he also took a badge from the same seemingly endless space that was below that counter «Here, you have to wear this for as long as you are here. Give it back before going out».</p><p>«Okay, thanks a bunch» Slender replied, taking the badge and going into Grooves’ part of the Studio. As he opened the doors he found a very huge studio set, where only a pair of penguins could be seen. It was almost like nobody was there, but it was probably because the scenes were being recorded somewhere else, probably The Moon. He asked for directions to one of the nearby penguins and as he was going to follow them towards the city, another pair of penguins came from where he was heading. When they met, the penguins stood in front of him, clearly blocking his way and thus wanting his attention. </p><p>«The boss told us to bring you to him. You should consider yourself special because he never does such a thing on visitors. Follow us»</p><p>As they turned around and started to walk Slender followed them, realizing just how big the Studio was. It didn’t look this big from outside. Sure, if Grooves recorded a film in a city called The Moon, which wasn’t anywhere on the world maps, it meant that it was built in the Studio itself, but he didn’t believe in such a simple conclusion just because <em>how the peck do you make a whole living city inside such a small studio?</em> It just wasn’t how small it seemed to be.</p><p>The walk was taking much more time than he thought it would, so he tried to start a conversation. «So, what are you guys filming?»</p><p>«It’s a drama about espionage, it’s going to be the next big hit. Grooves will surely win this year’s Bird Movie Awards»</p><p>«Hey, you can’t tell that to a visitor!» quickly shouted the other penguin.</p><p>«Oh, so that’s why the girls are dressing so fancy»</p><p>«You with the kids?»</p><p>«More or less. I’m just helping them and occasionally taking care of them»</p><p>«What are you, their guardian? Oh, here we are. <strong>Boss!</strong>»</p><p>They finally reached what could be considered as the “outskirts” of The Moon, where most of the recording machinery was held. There were a lot of penguins wearing headphones and looking at different monitors, probably doing the post-processing, editing or whatever they did to make the film look nice. Amongst them DJ Grooves stood on his “peculiar” high red heels, and with his afro hair he could not be mistaken (nor unseen). As soon as he heard his name being called, he turned around and reached them. Judging by how quickly and easily he walked, he must have been practicing a lot to walk with heels. Does he take them off when he gets home? Or does it feel weird not to wear them?</p><p>«Hello, Darling. The reception told me you’re here for the kids»</p><p>«Exactly. Not to complain, but have they been working until this late? They should be in bed from three hours by now»</p><p>«No, no, I wouldn’t let them. We stopped recording four hours ago and we did most of their scenes so I dismissed them for the day. They said they were going to stick around for a while and then I lost track of them. Try asking to some of the penguins»</p><p>In that exact moment the tracking app showed a strong signal nearby, so he had the exact location of the kids. «Thanks for the info, DJ, very appreciated. If you excuse me…»</p><p>«Actually» Grooves said right a second after Slender turned around. «Slenderbrain, was it?»</p><p>«Slenderbrine, Slender for short… so?»</p><p>«Ah…uhm, nothing, you can go».</p><p>«Alright». He resumed his affairs, looking for a path to reach wherever the kids ended up being.</p><p>To say the place was huge was a big euphemism. It was humongous. He had to walk four full kilometers before reaching the spot signaled by the app, which strangely didn’t move. It was an alleyway near a bus stop close to the outskirts of the city, yet far enough not to be able to see any recording machinery. It was a residential area, and being so far from the center made it very quiet. The only things you could hear were some occasional horns far away and mostly crickets. In the alley there was a single bench where the kids were sitting. A penguin was nearby and approached Slender before he could approach the girls. </p><p>«They’re sleeping. I’ve kept an eye on them, you can’t know what may happen in such an isolated alley. They said they were going to call a friend to pick them up, but this was an hour ago. Pretty late, huh?».</p><p>He was whispering, clearly not wanting to disturb the girls. «How did you know that I was here for them?»</p><p>«Us penguins know each other. If someone knows something, every other penguin will know it in a few minutes. I’ll be going».</p><p>«Thanks» Slender replied, to which the penguin responded by tipping his fedora before walking away towards another alley, presumably to his home.</p><p>So they were sleeping. What a shame: he couldn’t scold them nor tell them anything. Bah, let’s just bring them home.</p><p>He reached the girls making sure not to cause any sound. If you didn’t get close enough you couldn’t tell they were sleeping. Hat was leaning her head to her right while Bow was holding her phone on her left hand, with the screen still on and waiting for input. Slender gently took it, then to notice she was writing him a message before falling to sleep. “Slendy, could you please come get us from The Moo” was all she wrote. He locked the screen and put the phone in his pocket before using his kinetic powers to slowly and gently lifting both girls up before teleporting to their bedroom in the spaceship.</p><p>At bedtime the kids slept in total darkness, the only thing that could be seen were the little stars on the ceiling. It would have meant trouble for Slender because he hated looking in the dark, but he solved this long ago by installing night vision on his visors. Luckily he had become skilled enough with his kinetic powers not to wake the kids up. It was kind of tiring to be honest, but nothing unmanageable. While still holding them in the air, he reached the bed and moved the sheets to make room for them. He then put the girls in bed one by one. They were still wearing their fancy dresses, which was surely not exactly comfortable for sleeping in bed, but he couldn’t really do anything. They were going to pay more attention next time if they wanted to go to bed with their pajamas on.</p><p>He put Bow’s phone on the night table before going out of the room. Since all he had to do was done, he could finally return to his room.</p><p>No, wait… THE BADGE!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Kid invasion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>https://www.pinterest.it/pin/24206916734513507/<br/>That's it. That's the whole chapter. Have a nice day.</p><p> - WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUT ENDGAME EVENTS -</p><p>Bonus:<br/>https://www.pinterest.it/pin/24206916735110756/</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let's make this new year better folks.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Like every morning since the kids accepted to do his Death Wishes, Snatcher went to his spot in the kiddos’ bedroom, lit up his candles making them levitate and started to make his aura more noticeable and creepier. The kids were already up, so there was a relatively high chance they would at least try one of his special contracts. He was already getting excited just by the idea of watching them die again and again and rage-quit from his pocket dimensions, but he had to wait. He was prepared, though, as he vaporized a large book, his favorite, “How to kill kids”. It was a great classic and maybe it would have creeped out the kiddos some more.</p><p>He started reading, mentally prepared to wait a long time. It was around midday when he heard an unusual amount of noise and voices coming from the hub. Not caring much, he kept reading, but the mess got closer and closer until suddenly the bedroom door opened. «Hey, kiddo! Came back for more-» and that’s when he looked at the door, finding way more than just the usual two kids. There were at least 20 more of them, all looking and dressing the same but with differently colored clothes and hair. He didn’t have the time to react as the horde quickly reached him and started booping his nonexistent nose, hitting him with umbrellas, pillows, bats and who knows what. Someone even dared to bring blue paint that was suddenly all over him. «Wait! WAIT!» was all he could say before being literally swept over by kids and pain from the constant hits. «NOOOOoooooo…» was his last word, while he sticked a hand out of the horde, instinctively grasping for air that he didn’t even need, before getting swallowed by the girls.</p><p>🎩</p><p>Cryosleep didn’t work this time. Slender got out of the cryochamber with more aches and pains than the day before. It happened from time to time, but it could also be another hint that he needed to sleep in a more traditional way. He was going to the control panel to do the daily check-in when he heard an unusually high amount of noise coming from the door. It suddenly stopped as someone knocked on the door. «Who is it?»</p><p>«Hat kid?». Some chuckles could be heard from behind the wall, and they were more than just two. Something was going on, but the voice was actually of Hat kid so he opened the door. Worst mistake of the day. As soon as it opened, 40 or so kids busted into the room, and they were <em><strong>noisy</strong></em>. Some would make a line and fake being in a race; some were touching the walls, as if its intermittent lights were caused by some unknown magic; a modest group was in the middle of the room, looking at the many monitors that hung down from the ceiling even if they couldn’t understand what was written on it; some rushed over at the glass window and looked outside towards the planet in front of them while a small group got near the file cabinets, opening and closing them, not daring to touch the perfectly organized essays (thank god), but there were some little pests that thought the computer could potentially have some source of entertainment. Luckily for him, he made it so that only him would be able to access it, but it didn’t mean it was free from people trying to type in endless amounts of wrong passwords. Worst of all, all of them wanted to start a conversation at the same time.</p><p>The kids in front of the monitors were asking the language, the meaning and the reason behind the data; the kids at the cabinets were asking why was he keeping such files or who some catalogued people were, all at the same time as some kids were “cursing” (for as much as saying ‘peck’ could be classified as a curse) at the main computer and some were even graffitiing. All of this right after he woke up. Invasion of Privacy. Too much noise. Too many kids. Too early in the morning.</p><p>As he was getting angrier and angrier, he started sensing <em>the other one</em> getting angry as well, and between the two he surely was the one who would be the most forgiving towards the kids. He had to end it all and quickly. «<strong>ICH!</strong>» was the beginning of the solution, as all the noise disappeared. The kids only had the time to realize the sudden silence and look at each other in search of an explanation when the shout continued. «MA DEH!».</p><p>Those may seem random words, but they had a hidden power that only few knew how to use. The girls would have looked at him if their bodies weren’t immobilized. Time didn’t stop, yet their bodies were unable to move. The only people that were unaffected were Slender himself and the owners of the spaceship, the “original” Hat and Bow.</p><p>«Now YOU give me an explanation» he said, pointing his index towards the girls, that were standing near the middle of the room. He was referring in particular to Hattie, since those kinds of ideas usually came to her and also because Bow hid behind her friend in fear. Hat, instead, seemed more annoyed than anything, almost as if <em>he</em> was the one ruining the mood.</p><p>«We were just having fun…»</p><p>«Well, you can do that in any other room. It’s not like you can summon- like 50 more copies of yourselves, bust into a room, <em><strong>my</strong> room</em>, and expect not to be scolded for that. Especially right after I wake up: I didn’t even have the time to do the morning check-in!»</p><p>«Well, we did this in all the other rooms» she replied, crossing her arms annoyed «The only ones we didn’t visit were yours… <em>that mirror</em>…» giving a sight at the strange object on the wall close to the desk «and the attic. But we’re not going there… it makes me remember bad stuff…». She looked away, recalling the events of Time’s End shaking a little. After a moment she faced him again, pointing her finger towards him «Anyway, it’s not like this is your spaceship. It’s mine and I can do whatever I want». She was being brave not only at trying to oppose his figure, but at trying to hold her offended face too, all while Bow was clearly tugging her cape more insistently as time passed as a way to tell her to stop being so mean since <em>they were clearly the ones at fault</em>.</p><p>«But this room is mine and <strong>I</strong> am the one letting you in. I could also just leave to never be seen again, taking the Yarns, Relics and <strong>Time Pieces I helped you gather</strong>».</p><p>Hat’s defenses were now starting to crumble, but she stood her ground. «You wouldn’t have the guts to do it to your precious kids»</p><p>«<em><strong>WANT TO SEE ME THROW YOU INSIDE VANESSA’S MANOR?</strong></em>». This was much far than he expected. His HUD told him he inadvertently modified his aura to be creepier and much more intimidating than usual, accompanied by a slight shapeshift that made him taller and bigger. His subconscious was establishing who was in charge in the old-fashioned way of the law of the strongest, and lo and behold, Hat was now as scared of his anger as Bow, trembling in synchrony. That explains why Creepy was born.</p><p>«Now…» he sighed, returning to his normal size and trying to look calm, «next time you invite some friends at least <em>warn</em> me before rushing into my room. And I <em>pretend</em> some apologies, especially from you…» he pointed to the girls trying to breach his computer «and you, for invasion of Privacy», pointing to the brats at the file cabinets. « Next time at least tell me your names so I can register you». A short pause followed the scold.</p><p>«Anyway, good morning kid… nice to see you’re still full of energy. Now get out of my room» he ended, as he unfroze everyone. As expected, all of them turned towards the exit and went to the main hub one by one without saying a thing. The last to get out were the original Hat and Bow kid, with Bow being clearly sorry for the whole mess, as shown by one last look she gave him with sorrow in her eyes.</p><p>When everyone was out, Slender could finally sit at his beloved desk and start the daily check-in. «At least <em>he</em> didn’t do anything…».</p><p>🎩</p><p>Once he finished the morning protocols, he got out of the room to find a bunch of kids sitting on the ground, fidgeting exactly one like the other, as if they were clones or something. He would have needed some coffee, but a scolding right after waking up surely did the same job in much less time. He now needed some chamomile.</p><p>Slender went straight towards the kitchen, only to find it… strangely in pristine conditions and sparkling too. Cooking cat was washing <em>hundreds</em> of dishes when she turned her head towards him to greet him. «Oh, good morning, Slender. I heard some noises from out there, anything wrong?»</p><p>«The whole waking up. I still have some aches from last night. You need any help?»</p><p>«No, thanks, I can handle this on my own. Why don’t you go check up on the ghost in the bedroom? The girls are talking about him much more than usual»</p><p>«Heheh… I bet he’s gotten angry before I did… If you need any help you know where to find me». He got out of the kitchen, only to realize he actually didn’t make the chamomile, but whatever. He headed straight towards the bedroom, but before the door to the hallway opened, he noticed some kids were trying to face him. As he turned around to find some Hat kids and Bow kids up and going towards him, they all stopped and regret their decision, either looking away or sitting down again. They were clearly trying to apologize, but «There’s no need to say sorry. Just… don’t do that again to someone you don’t know, ok?». Some kids were reassured enough by those words to actually start to look at him. They still felt sad for what they did, but knowing they didn’t anger their friend’s friend made them feel a little better.</p><p>He went to the bedroom, only to find complete mess: pillows were everywhere, and where there weren’t pillows were drawings, on the walls and even on the ceiling (How did they even do that?)! There was a rather small group of kids dancing and interacting with something at Snatcher’s usual corner. As Slender got close he realized that the raw destructive power of 40 or so children were enough to breach a powerful ghost’s defenses, defeating him almost instantly. It was mostly thanks to the blue paint that was all over the corner, especially on the ghost itself. Someone decided to bring some markers and of course someone else used said tools to draw a monocle and a pair of fancy mustaches over the Ghost’s face. There were some other markings, like some plays of tic-tac-toe, and a kid was determined enough to draw on him all the possible details that could resemble a fancy dress: the buttons along what would be the placket; the collar; there was even a fancy rose sticking out of a breast pocket (it must have been an aspiring artist or stylist).</p><p>It should have been a horrible scene to look at: a man devastated by a horde of kids. But since the victim wasn’t a man, but the great Snatcher instead, king of the Subcon Forest, it was actually very funny. So entertaining that Slender decided to savor the moment by taking a selfie next to him; he even asked the girls to pose so that the photo would look funnier. Once shot, he gave each of them a copy as a keepsake… and maybe even for blackmailing each other’s version of the ghost. Imagine the title of local newspapers: “The Infamous ghost ‘The Snatcher’ defeated by a bunch of kids”. Marvelous.</p><p>As he told the girls to head to the hub, he materialized another copy of the photo and he put it right next to the ghost, so that when he would recover from the assault he would have been able to see what happened while he was gone (and as a reminder not to mess with the kids obviously, surely not for blackmailing *wink wink*). He was almost going to leave when he noticed Snatcher returning to his senses. That was the perfect moment not to be there, but he wanted to watch his reaction so badly that he swiftly hid behind the girls’ bedroom.</p><p>🎩</p><p>The ghost got up. It felt like the last time he fought with Vanessa… only worse. The last thing he remembered was a bunch of clones of kiddos that… «What in the peck?». He saw his own reflection on the window of the spaceship: he could see the monocle, the mustache and even the dress! How dare them to ravage his perfect, creepy and massive ghost figure with such… such dishonorable… friendly looking nonsense! Oh, if he caught those girls, he wouldn’t even make them do his contracts, he would straight <em>snatch</em> their souls and eat them as they deserved for insulting him. Just as he was fuming, he noticed a photo on the ground. He took it and… WHAT?!? They even took a photo? And they posed? And there was Slender too?!? He was part of this?!? That peck-neck nuisance, he would <em>obviously</em> be part of “the fun”. If only he wasn’t so powerful he would have straight destroyed him with his laser beams. «That’s it! No more children in Subcon Forest! All banned for life, you hear me!» he shouted with all of his anger right as he ripped the photo in pieces and destroyed it with an overly sized laser beam.</p><p>A loud laugh could be heard in the room. It was Slender of course: he was laughing so hard his insides were hurting. Obviously, it was not appreciated by the ghost, who just noticed the shapeshifter in the corner of the room. «Man, you should have seen your face! Best moment ever!» he grasped in between laughs and wheezes «Imagine the people out of the forest: <em>‘Ooh, is this the Snatcher thing? He’s with kids and they painted his face? Oh, that must mean he’s not that scary’</em>. A whole reputation ruined in a single day! Haah!»</p><p>«<strong>Enough!</strong>» shouted the ghost, but to no avail. Slender was right: nobody would have feared him anymore, not even his own subordinates. He had to make sure there was no proof of what happened in the ship other than the witnesses, which could be easily denied or passed off as a prank meticulously planned to mock him. «Ahem. Come on, Slender, we can make a deal-»</p><p>«Nuh-huh. I’m gonna keep the photo and you can’t stop me». He caressed his phone «<em>My precious source of blackmailing, daddy is gonna protect you from the evil bad noodle…</em>»</p><p>«<strong>GIVE IT TO ME THIS INSTANT!</strong>»</p><p>🎩</p><p>As the “argue” was escalating, the girls heard the ruckus coming from ‘their own’ room. They didn’t want to go and look at what was happening because both Slender and Snatcher were there, and they knew they shouldn’t eavesdrop on them. They both were victims of their pranks and they felt bad for it, even if Slender told them not to, plus they were technically adults and probably talking about adult stuff, like what would have been their punishment.</p><p>But curiosity got the best of them all, especially the ‘Hatties’, and they proceeded to slowly and quietly reach their bedroom’s door, trying to keep far enough from its sensors not to open it. Instead of hearing serious arguments they heard Slender laughing like a madman and Snatcher constantly asking him to make a deal and to handle a photo. By the noise of objects falling on the ground it was almost like they were playing tag. As not all of the girls knew about the selfie, some asked and got a whisper in response, plus a copy of the infamous shot. Everyone that looked had to hold their laughs with all of their forces, but not everyone was strong enough: some started laughing and as a result everyone followed their lead. Now the biggest ruckus was made by the girls, which in turn made the “adults” stop their rambling to turn towards the exit of the bedroom. Somehow, the door got open, probably sensing all of the movement caused by the kids rolling on the floor laughing the peck out of their body, and showed the mess that the infamous shot caused.</p><p>This, of course, was the end for Snatcher. Futile were his last tentatives to stop everyone from either laughing or sharing the photos: if he had to do something, he had to do it by himself. He quickly grabbed as many copies of the photo as he could and destroyed them right before turning to Slender and throwing a potion at him, trying to distract him and snatch his phone. Sadly, he did not reach his goal, as the potion hit him without causing any damage and only dying him green. Resigning to his demise, he decided to head back to Subcon more offended than ever, never to come back. Peck the Death wishes.</p><p>He was not in the mood to do anything else other than read his books and try to steam down. Sure, it was an implicit admission of failure, but it was useless if he couldn’t do anything to prevent the kids from destroying him and his past. Now that he was thinking about it “calmly”, he realized they would never do such a thing: they knew he wouldn’t ever forgive them for such an action and since he was their “BFF” they wouldn’t have liked it. Hopefully it would be enough to keep them at bay until he could come up with a plan to steal the original photo and any remaining copies to never talk about it ever again. Sadly, this meant he needed to get close to the kids, thus he could not ban them, at least for now. But as soon as he finished the job… oh, when he would have finished it, he would finally kick them out of the forest, never to see them again. Those nuisances…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a good spot for taking a break.<br/>Drink some water, turn the phone off for 5 minutes, enjoy some Peace and Tranquility.</p><p>- Have a good year -</p><p>~ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgP_lf9AJd0">Some music for chilling </a>~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Film Time - Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The massive hall had tallest walls, finely painted in a gentle yellow light to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere. It was enhanced by the fragile crystal petals that adorned the chandeliers, that were so high on the ceiling they created the illusion of being always hit by sunshine. A party was given there and a buffet was included in the invitation, so endless tables covered by a finely crafted white tablecloth, decorated with golden and very complex motifs, had occupied the center of the hallway, giving proper attention to the many multi-awarded chefs’ creations; each with its own golden plate and each with its own sublime look and smell.</p><p>The party's guests were the highest members of society, especially rich members of a close circle called "The Chosen Ones". It was indeed a cover for the weekly meeting to decide the fate of the whole Metropolis: its members were so important that they could potentially destroy the whole economy and with it the lives of all the people on that continent in a single day. Their head was a man called "The Purple Priest", who was also the most important mafia boss between all the families of the city.</p><p>Since the party had long ended, the tables were now absent and the hall was completely empty. The beige marble on the floor was partially covered by long red carpets that would have otherwise made the room too bright. Nobody was there, as it should have been. Unless…</p><p>
  <strong>SLAM</strong>
</p><p>A door near the end of the hallway quickly opened, making the windows vibrate from the impact with the wall. A small brunette girl with a fancy long red dress came from the room, sweating, heavily panting and holding her gown with her free hand to ease the getaway.</p><p>She had to run as fast as she could, or else it would have been her end. Adrenaline ran through her body as she sprinted to the end of the hall. Hopefully she would have reached the exit in time to be saved by her friend, who was keeping the car ready for the getaway. She soon heard the door behind her shut open and an infamous voice shouting «Get her!», but she was almost to the front door. She could do it: she was only a few meters away from salvation.</p><p>But as soon as she got near the door, she tripped on her high heels and fell on the ground. She hadn't the energies to get up anymore and terror filled her mind as she heard a bunch of penguins reach her. It was her end. She turned around, shaking like a leaf while still on the ground, and saw both the gunned penguins and their boss, the Purple Priest.</p><p>«So, our little journalist wants a scoop, huh? Too bad you couldn't make it without being caught trying to infiltrate my affairs»</p><p>«S-sir please, let m-me go! I-I won't say nor w-w-write a thing!» she trembled, becoming one with fear and desperately begging for her life.</p><p>«Do you know what happens to those who are not wanted in my business?». He took a small gun out of a pocket in his jacket and pointed it at her. Her eyes narrowed like never before.</p><p>«S-s-sir, p-please I-»</p><p>When suddenly the glasses broke as a bunch of other penguins and owls came from above, wearing black suits, helmets and masks and armed to the teeth. A small dark-skinned girl with a blue uniform, a bulletproof vest and a gun came after them from the same entrance.</p><p>«Purple Priest» she shouted, «Your plans of dominating this city end now: you're under arrest. Drop the gun!»</p><p>«Oh, officer Evans, long time no see... You must be very naive to think you can still take on me after what you did last time. Well, we’ve got quite the reunion here: the cop and the reporter, miss Williams, shoulder to shoulder investigating crime scenes and trying to put me down… This only means that you two care for each other, so what about...». He armed the gun still pointed to Williams, making his intentions explicit and a sick smile towards the officer. «<strong>Nobody can stop my rise to <em>power</em>!</strong>»</p><p>«Don't make me do this, Purple» replied the officer, struggling at maintaining her composure while pointing her gun towards him.</p><p>«If you shoot, she's gone too…»</p><p><br/>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p>
  <strong>STOP!</strong>
</p><p>«Phew. Being the bad guy sure is hard» said The Purple Slender, the newest addition to the actors for DJ Grooves’ film.</p><p>«You're tremendously good at it, you scared me» Evans aka Bowie replied, relaxing from the posture and cracking her neck bone.</p><p>«Yeah, you make it so realistic I almost grabbed my time stop hat to get away» continued ‘Williams Rosie’ Hattie still on the ground.</p><p>«Well, it makes it easier for you to play along. Anyway, this was the last shot for today. Let's head back to the ship» ended Slender.</p><p>The penguins and owls were already on their way home and as Slender turned towards the exit and Bow took her fake Kevlar vest out, Hat suddenly moaned while trying to get up. They both turned towards her.</p><p>«Uh... Guys? My leg kinda hurts» was her reply. Her eyes darted her friends clearly worried, especially Slender, the only ‘adult’ nearby. Their friends got near her and the latter began touching her knee «Does it hurt if I press here?»</p><p>«No… no… Ouch! Yes, yes!» she responded, narrowing her eyes.</p><p>«Well, I may not be a doctor, but there might be some damage to the tibia or the fibula. You better not walk for a day or two. <em>Hop</em>» he then proceeded to grab her bridal style, with one arm behind the knees and the other supporting her back. He helped himself lift her with his telekinesis just to make sure his not-so-graceful motions couldn’t cause more damage to the limb, while the kid let out a «Woah» in surprise.</p><p>«Hey! If she gets a ride then I want one too!» Bow protested.</p><p>«Fine, come over here» Slender crouched, letting Bow climb him from behind. Once she reached his neck and sat down piggyback-style, he proceeded with a robotic voice «Slender express on the move. Please sit tight and do not let go of your security handles».</p><p>The girls giggled and they all went towards the exit. On their way out they saw DJ Grooves in the distance and went towards him to alert him they were not working tomorrow.</p><p>«Hey groovy homie, we're going home. We'll be needing a day off for tomorrow: the little princess got hurt and can't move properly»</p><p>«That's fine, we won't need you for a couple of days: we have to adjust these last shots before continuing. You can go for today and please, do not call me that»</p><p>«That's fine to me, afro-on-heels. See ya»</p><p>«Please take care, darling!»</p><p>«I sure will» Hat reassured him.</p><p>«Bye bye!» The girls said before they finally left and teleported to the spaceship</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Cultural exchange - Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Their society was very strict and severe with its rules. They were established when the conservative party won the elections for the tenth time in a row and they decided to make a new, one-party state.</em> Blah, blah, blah… <em>The citizens must keep a stable work, otherwise not only will they get despised by society, but on the long-term they will be sent to jail for not being productive.</em> Yeesh. <em>Once children would reach adulthood, aka at their 12th birthday, they can choose to join the "Exploration &amp; Retrieval of Space Artefacts Units" (the ERSAU). If they did so, they will be taught how to manage space travels and they will receive a spaceship to accomplish a specific mission. Before engaging they must pass an exam in which they faced a very dangerous scenario: the collapse of a red giant into a black hole.</em> Failure meant death so the pressure was high among those children. Jeez, man, that's tough. The kids must be – like – tremendously expert drivers. And incredibly lucky too! Yadda, yadda… <em>Once they finished their assignment, they must return to</em>… huh? </p>
<p>«Hey, kid, what's this word?»</p>
<p>Slender was relaxing on the pillow fort and reading the kids' books. They had so many of them they couldn't be only made for entertainment, in fact a considerable amount of them were "educational". And by that I meant they were desperately trying to convince the young that the structure of their society was not only normal, but good for everyone. They, of course, failed because it was so oblivious nobody could even remotely think it would have worked. Moreover, you cannot use such language and reasoning with children.</p>
<p>«Huh?» Hattie replied, turning her head towards Slender. She was lying on her stomach, drawing on the sheets of paper on the floor and swinging her legs.</p>
<p>The shapeshifter had to get up from its usual (and very comfortable) spot to reach her since she was too far to be able to read what was in the book.</p>
<p>«It's "rohuenda". It means home, as for where you live on a daily basis» she said turning her body around and gesturing with a green crayon in her hand.</p>
<p>«Oh, thanks»</p>
<p>As he was going to return to his beloved reading spot and silence fell upon the room Hattie continued: «Wait. Since when can you read our language? And why are you reading 'Our planet, our home'? It's so snooore», she added with a bored voice and rolling her eyes at that thought and returning to her much more interesting hobby.</p>
<p>It was her twelfth drawing in a row today and she didn't look like she wanted to stop. Where did she get all that paper, though? She and Bow always took it from the drawer of the only desk in the room, but when Slender looked how many were inside, there had always been only one sheet of paper.</p>
<p>«Since I have the power of technology by my side. It helps me find the most basic meanings of your language, but it is not exactly 100% perfect as you can see»</p>
<p>As soon as she processed the new information she made a surprised face and her eyes shone brightly. A very bad sign as it was proved enough in the past. She then made a smug face, lowered her head and looked towards him. «What about a <em>deal</em>?» she said.</p>
<p>«You stick too much around that lawyer ghost, you're starting to think like him»</p>
<p>«Teehee». Dear Pride, why is she so darn cute when she does that face? «Anyway let's say I teach you how to read and speak our language.. will you teach us the one you use for your infamous shouts?»</p>
<p>«I'm pretty sure you're going against at least three different rules of you manual, but for as long as you're fine with it, count me in»</p>
<p>Her eyes were now sparkling with joy, and that was not a good sign either. He had to intervene before she deceived herself: «But! I'm not guaranteeing anything about your ability to shout: it's not that easy and it may take years to master even the simplest- hey!»</p>
<p>Hattie was running towards the door «Sorry! I'm gonna get Bow real quick so we can start teaching you the basics. I'll be here in a sec!»</p>
<p>«Don’t overexert your leg! You should keep it at rest for another day!»</p>
<p>Her response was waving at him before the door shut behind her. Hopefully they would not cause some more trouble this way.</p>
<p>«Wait, infamous? I didn’t use my shouts that much, who knows about it that might have spread the word?... Oh, right, the kids...»</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Film time - Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Few days later the kids returned to their normal routine. Hattie was able to run once again so they resumed helping with DJ Grooves’ film, but after a while he dismissed the three of them.</p><p>«Fantastic work, darlings. You too, Mr. Brine: you were all exceptional. I’m sure we’ll win this year’s award in no time. The ceremony should be next month, so don’t get too busy. You wouldn’t want to skip the most important day in our career, darling» said Grooves. </p><p>«A whole month? But last time it took something like three days» replied Bow as she and Hat made surprised faces that hid suspicion.</p><p>«I decided to get ready sooner than usual this year. No particular reason» was Grooves’ reply.</p><p>«Hmm…» Slender didn’t say anything, he just crossed his arms and shared the shock of the situation. “He’s up to something, but it might just be me overreacting to unusual discrepancies over his behavior and organizational skills”</p><p>«Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some last things to do before locking this place. See you next month!»</p><p>As he turned away and went towards the many penguins working on the post-processing of the film, the girls waved goodbye to him.</p><p>- ⏳ -</p><p>As Grooves said, he actually stopped working and his activities didn’t involve the Studio anymore. Slender made sure to know all of his movements by hiring the CAW agents to keep an eye on him and the Conductor, who might or might not be involved in whatever the DJ was doing.</p><p>As Slender was reading the latest reports he received by the Crows and updating the files and charts to keep them up to date, his phone rang. It was an unknown number. Strange, only the kids, Snatcher and Cooking Cat had his phone number. He accepted the call and before he could even say a word he heard a huge mess going on the other side of the phone.</p><p>«<em><strong>QUIT MOVEN AROUND YA PECKNECKS! YER DESTROYING ME DESK!</strong></em>»</p><p>Ah, yes, the Conductor. A rather annoyed, frustrated expression appeared on Slender's face.</p><p>«<em><strong>OY! IS THIS THE NUMBER OF</strong> uhm… <strong>MISTER BROINE?</strong></em>»</p><p>Oh dear peck, why did no one get his “surname” right?</p><p>«Yes, what is it Conductor?»</p><p>«<strong>Hey</strong>, how do you know who I am?»</p><p>«It’s impossible not to recognize your terrible accent and the mess that follows you for some reason. Speaking of which, why am I not hearing any more ruckus?»</p><p>After a moment of silence, something broke, probably a vase. «<strong>OOOOOY! YER IN SOOO MUCH TROUBLE NOW!</strong>» </p><p>The call dropped. Something made Slender think he hadn’t heard the last of the Conductor.<br/>
After about 10 minutes, in fact, he received another call.</p><p>«<strong>Oy, mister Broine, is it?</strong>»</p><p>«It’s Brine, yes. What can I do for you?»</p><p>«That DJ Grooves thinks he can hire all the aliens he finds without consequences. I want you and the kids tomorrow morning at the Studio, we’re making the next big hit! <strong>Hey!</strong> Stop touching that! Granpa is <strong>buSY!</strong>».</p><p>After some noises of people falling, the call dropped again. This time for good.</p><p>«Ugh, I hope the kids will like this idea»</p><p>- 🎬 -</p><p>Desert. </p><p>More desert. </p><p>
  <em>Even more <strong>desert.</strong></em>
</p><p>There was nothing other than sand and the ruthless sun; its rays hit on the roofs of the few buildings that made Cunicole the small town it was. Once famous and renowned for its gold veins buried deep underground, when the rocks became too hard to break through and the veins depleted everyone went away. Well, almost everyone. For its central position in the Lands, it was an important place to stop if you wanted to reach the Other Side, mainly because it was the only one with running water. And running water in the desert was a gift that many wanted for themselves.</p><p>The doors of the bank suddenly opened as the siren rang its emergency to all town. «Someone stop that thief!» said the bank owner once it got to the door, but it was too late. The robber was already on his horse and ready to flee when a gunshot was heard. This made the horse rear and the thief fell, his back hit the ground. As the mount left its owner, he got up and adjusted his cowboy hat. At first glance he seemed like any other bandit, but only few knew he was the legendary head of the Red Skulls, a group that caused great havoc among the Lands. He successfully robbed all the banks in the West except for the one in Cunicole. His treasure was as big as his fame and bounty, that accounted to more than all you could get in the Lands alone.</p><p>«Ramingo the Red! We’ve finally met. This will be the last day you’ll enjoy the sun’s warmth on your skin».</p><p>Cunicole’s sheriff was well known across the Lands for being the fastest man in the West, ready to unload a full clip in just two seconds alone. The legends also remarked how he didn’t need more than said time to solve any conflict or crime. He never got defeated in his 15 years of duty and he arrested and punished well over 200 bandits who tried to steal from the town under his protection.</p><p>«Rrrrr- Golden Menace… I always wanted to end yerr careerrrr, and luckily now I’ve got the chance…»</p><p>The two stood far from each other, ready to engage in the inevitable battle. The people nearby quickly rushed inside their houses and took cover, still peeking from the windows to see the result of the legendary duel.</p><p>They were both ready, hands close to the guns, to see who was the quickest. They kept eyeing each other with menacing eyes. Nothing could be heard except for the sand moved by the wind and a tumbleweed that crossed the street right between the combatants. And then suddenly, the inevitable happened…</p><p>
  <strong>BANG!</strong>
</p><p>«Stoooop! Good one, boys» </p><p>
  <strong>«Someone bring me <strong>WATE<em>RRRRR</em>!</strong>»</strong>
</p><p>It was impossible not to recognize the Conductor being the main protagonist of the story, especially because <em>he had to talk</em>. It was meant to be the sequel for the first big flop he made, in which the bandit Ramingo the Red (which was actually not red for some reason) became the most infamous bandit in the Lands.</p><p>Being set in the desert, the crew just had to get out of the Dead Bird Studio and wander for a few kilometers to find the perfect spot to build an improvised fake western city. The landscape was beautiful too, with enormous canyons here and there and the sand occasionally changing color between the many layers of eroded rocks. It was a sunny day, perfect for the shots in the open the Conductor needed, but also very hot.</p><p>Even for Slender, who loved being in the warm light of the sun, it was getting a bit too hot. It was somewhere around 40°C (104°F) and the owls were sweating like melting ice. Luckily, some of them had the brilliant idea of bringing a dozen extra fans which were used to cool everyone off, and with the very high reserve of ice-cold water being put next to the roulettes of the main actors, everyone could last for a few hours before calling it a day.</p><p>The girls, though, didn’t seem to mind the heat... at least not as much as the others. Well, they kind of went between the layers of a <em>lava cake</em> and faced a castle <em>half filled with lava</em> without breaking a sweat, so it was to be expected. They reached Slender, Bowie holding a bottle of water and Hattie a pocket fan.</p><p>«Amazing work, Slendy! You were one with the character!» said Hattie, while bringing the fan close to the actor’s face. She was wearing her basic Sprint Hat, perfectly suited for that environment.</p><p>As Slender crouched to reach their eye level (and not to make her stay on tiptoe), he replied «Oh, don’t make me blush. Say, I haven’t seen you work that much today… did the Conductor give you your scripts?»</p><p>«Yes, he did. It’s just that our scenes come a bit later in the film. We won’t interact very much it seems» replied Bow while offering the cold water to the shapeshifter, which he politely declined.</p><p>«Oh, so that’s why…». As Slender wiped some sweat off of his forehead and got up again, he looked at the ruthless sun and then at the kids. «Wait a second…»</p><p>«What is it?» said Hattie right after she turned off the pocket fan, all intrigued by his friend’s sentence. It only meant one thing: he had one of his overly-complex and fun ideas. Finally, something she and Bow could do other than watch others work and wait for their turn to shine in front of the cameras.</p><p>«Hold on, I’ve got an idea. Do you have your ice hats with you?» he quickly turned to her with excitement. </p><p>«Duh, of course! We never get out of our ship without them» replied an annoyed Hat. He should know her by now: she liked taking risks, sure, but she was never unprepared for action.</p><p>«Good. How long can you hold your ice forms? Is there a way for you to make a statue and let it stay even when you’re not inside?» he continued, gesturing with his hands and begging for more knowledge.</p><p>«I dunno…? We’ve never tried anything like that…» now both Hat and Bow had exchanged confused looks, trying to understand where this was going.</p><p>«Ok. Bow, go look around and seek for pillows or cushions. They have to be as bouncy as the burger cushion back in the spaceship»</p><p>«Sure» she said, putting on her sprint golden hair ribbon Snatcher gifted her for some reason and starting her search around the set.</p><p>«Hattie, I need you to craft another hat. You’ve already seen it, one of your clone friends had it. It should be a brown cap with goggles on it and it should give you the ability to dash-attack in mid-air»</p><p>«Yes, I think I remember it! Luckily I have some extra yarn in my hat…» she started to sew and meanwhile asked «… but how do you know all this stuff?»</p><p>«I have my informers…». His vague response was making the whole situation even more intriguing. Right before she was going to ask for more information about what was actually going on, Bow returned. «Bow, there you are. What did you find?»</p><p>«The owls have this cushion that is very bouncy; they say they use it for the stuntmen during action scenes but they are willing to lend it as long as they don’t need it»</p><p>«Good. Now listen here: I’ve got a plan to end this heat. Bow, you’re going to jump on that cushion while wearing the ice hat and once I give you the signal you have to turn into a statue. At the same time, you, Hat, have to wear the hat you just made and, with a quick mid-air dash, grab Bow and land on the ground. This way you should be fast enough to take Bow out of the Statue while it falls on the cushion. It will be bouncy enough not to let the statue hit the ground and thus we can cheat the physics engine to never make it disappear. All of this has to happen in front of a fan so that it will cool all of us by moving the cold air the statue will make while it evaporates. Understood?»</p><p>«Uhm… I got the action part with our hats and how that will help us, but I didn’t quite get the “cheat the engine” stuff. I didn’t see any engines in the set?!?» replied Hattie as she exchanged once more confused looks with Bow, but they seemed ready for some action.</p><p>«Oh, don’t worry about that, it’s a technical term. So, are you in?»</p><p>«You can bet on it!»</p><p>- 🧊 -</p><p>It required a few tries, but they finally did it. Now that the “air-conditioner” was on and working everyone was feeling much better. At first the experiment received just a few concerned looks by the staff, but once they felt the temperature slowly going down, they got closer. Slender was writing on his handy notebook, reporting the success.</p><p>
  <em>“It is possible to make an air cooler out of a bouncing statue in front of a fan. Codename: ISIAC aka Infinite Statue-Induced Air Cooler.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>New intel:<br/>
1.	You can make an Unstable ice statue by quickly moving the hat wearer right as he summons the ice hat’s powers. This way you will take it out of the statue.<br/>
2.	Unstable ice statues break once they hit the ground.<br/>
3.	You can stabilize Unstable ice statues by never making them touch the ground.<br/>
4.	Bouncy items are not classified as ground since they don’t make the statue stand still.<br/>
5.	Unstable ice statues never melt (at least for 20 minutes with 40°C, ~1 bar, Kiddos? Multiverse E4-02).</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Durability: Potentially infinite, it depends on the electric source of the fan.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Difficulty: Easy</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Requirements: Ice hat, bouncy item, fan.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Optimizations: The ice statue seems infinite, so the more powerful the fan, the best efficiency. Consider making more tests to analyze the maximum cool air output and the maximum potential durability of the ice under normal and extreme conditions”</em>
</p><p>«I never thought an ice statue would behave like that…» said Bow. She, Hattie and Slender were standing a bit far from the “experiment” and were looking (more or less) proudly at their work.</p><p>«Yeah, it’s very weird…» continued Hattie. She somehow managed to put into words how scuffed it looked.</p><p>«Yes, I have to admit that if someone suddenly came here and saw this, they would be surprised to say the least. Though, it is mildly efficient…» said Slender, who put his notebook back to where it belonged once he finished scribbling.</p><p>«Mildly?!? It cooled us better than the air conditioning back in the Studio! Many thanks, mister Brine. We really needed that» and Owl said while passing by. As the other owls heard him, they all turned to Slender and thanked him. This flustered the shapeshifter a bit, slightly reddening his purple skin. He sure never got used to compliments.</p><p>«<strong>Whaddawhat?!? What is going on ovah hearrr?</strong>». Oh, yeah, they forgot to ask permission to the owner of the place for experimenting on set… oopsie~</p><p>Slender turned to the Conductor who just got out of his roulette, probably because it was almost time to shoot. He felt the sight of the many Owls who were now anxiously waiting his response in hope of not getting blamed for the situation or receiving more work because of it. «*Ahem* Nothing special, Conductor. Air conditioning prototypes»</p><p>Conductor, on the other hand, didn’t respond. He was astonished by the sight. He kept “looking” at the prototype and at Slender without speaking a word with his mouth wide open for what felt like a good half of hour. He then closed his jaw, turned to Slender one last time and said «Well… I guess I’ve seen worse. I’ll need a drink after today and you owe me one… Now, Golden Menace, let’s go make the last shot of the day»</p><p> </p><p>What a narrow escape.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a good spot for taking a break.<br/>Drink some water, turn the phone off for 5 minutes, enjoy some Peace and Tranquility.</p><p>- Intermission -</p><p>My betareader immediately said</p><p>"Conductor: «I'm your first FAN, Mr. Brine»<br/>Slender: «I regret everything»"</p><p>and signed the paper with</p><p>"FANtastic."</p><p>Please send help.</p><p>~ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbn-QDttWqU">Some music for chilling </a>~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A trip to Mafia Town</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Watch out! A disclaimer!</p><p> - WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUT ENDGAME EVENTS -</p><p> </p><p>And maybe some angst too</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything was normal, all was as usual. Well, maybe he was a bit late on his routines, but nothing exceptional. Slender got out of his room a bit after 10 in the morning after nearly 14 hours of relentless work.</p><p>He got a strange signal last afternoon and wanted to analyze it further. Despite the solid basis for being a burst of energy in 6 dimensions compatible with Multiversal portals, it ended up being a dead end. Turns out those kinds of events became rather normal when you handled fragile time manipulating artifacts on a daily basis. It deserved a small page section on Slender’s notebook, but it didn’t make him progress any further in his search for a way home, so he classified the time spent as “loss for a good cause”. Not too good for him, but those were the occupational hazards he accepted the risks of.</p><p>Slender was going to take something to drink, everything but coffee. He had enough of strange patterns and seemingly random numbers and wanted just to relax a bit. Maybe he would have just jumped in the pillow fort and called it a day. As he entered the kitchen he was met by the kind and familiar voice of Cooking Cat.</p><p>«Good morning, Slender. Woke up late today, huh? What can I do for you?»</p><p>«Nothing, thanks. For your information I didn’t sleep tonight, just like the past 21 nights» he started muttering as he got close to the counter. He took the kettle and filled it with water. «I’m doing some chamomile, you want some?»</p><p>«No, thanks. But I have to underline how unhealthy that sleep schedule is. I mean, you are an alien, sure, but I’m pretty confident you have to sleep more often»</p><p>«I modified my body with that specific intention. Sadly, I can’t make it so I don’t have to sleep, but once a month will do». His voice hinted some repressed anger, which he failed to hide as usual, resulting in a sort of disgusted and rude tone. He put the kettle over the smallest burner and started searching for the bags he left somewhere in the cabinets.</p><p>«Oh… Well, your life, your choices, right?» she shrugged, trying not to end the conversation in an embarrassing silence.</p><p>«Fair enough… Thanks for the support, tho» he silently apologized after a long sigh.</p><p>«Don’t mention it~». As she winked at him, her own way of quickly lifting up spirits by implicitly saying “It’s okay”, she moved the teapot out of the fire as it was almost boiling. She poured the hot liquid into the cup Slender had just prepared.</p><p>He made sure not to make the chamomile too strong, or else the results would be counterproductive. Once he finished, he took the cup with his right hand and lifted it a bit, making a silent cheer to her as a thank you. «I’ll see you soon»</p><p>«Bye~». She waved to him for a bit before returning to her seemingly infinite chores.</p><p>- ☕ -</p><p>But just as Slender stepped out of the kitchen, the kids were there.</p><p>«Hey, Slendy! Want to come with us at Mafia town?» asked an overly excited Hat kid, who already had stars in her eyes. Behind her was Bow kid, who was just as excited as her, both jumping on her feet and ready to go.</p><p>«I politely refuse, I just want to chill in the pillow fort for the day» he replied, sipping from his “<em>sMug</em>”.</p><p>«Oh, come on! You’ve gotta come with us! We’ll meet Mu again!» responded Bow, visibly unhappy of the response.</p><p>«Well, <em>you</em>’ll meet Mu.» he smugly replied «Now, if you’ll excuse me…»</p><p>«No, we don’t excuse you!» shouted Hat kid. She dashed and grabbed Slender’s calf, holding onto it tightly and Bow did the same with the other one. Thankfully he did not spill the chamomile, but he now had to walk with two boulders on his legs. For as small as these girls might seem, their constricting arms were strong enough to make Slender start to feel his legs becoming numb. Not wanting to give up that easily, he started walking slowly and clumsily downstairs and towards his room, but once he reached the door the feet were not responding anymore, so he had to admit the inevitable.</p><p>«I shall hereby reconsider your kind offering and correct my past mistake: I will be happy to accompany you to your destination for as long as you don’t make any part of my body go numb or cause any harm whatsoever. Is that enough?» he looked down to the kids, who had their “smug face of victory”. </p><p>Bow kid put her hand on her chin, judging his words carefully. She then (finally) came to a conclusion «Meh, maybe a bit too fancy, but we’ll accept that»</p><p>«Good, now could you please get off now? I don’t want to lose my feet again». They let go and blood finally reached the tingling toes. «Now, you might be ready, but I have some chamomile to drink. See you in 5!» he quickly replied before entering his room and locking the door behind him. He heard some boos coming from the other side, to which he vigorously chuckled.</p><p>- 🌊 -</p><p>Ah, the smell of sea. Wanted by so many people for its healthy properties, it was the first thing you could notice once in Mafia town. Except if you landed in a sideway full of garbage as the kids did the first time they went to town. The second sense stimulated by the place was the sight: the town was always full of life and waiting to be explored, just as the colorful hot-air balloons that mottle the sky.</p><p>Almost as soon as they landed, the kids started searching for their friend and it didn’t take too long: as usual, you only had to follow the path of destruction around the town to find her. She was handling her usual troubles like fighting the Mafia exactly where she was rescued for the first time by the kids, on top of the explosive barrels in front of the circus tents.</p><p>«Mustache girl!» both kids shouted happily at her.</p><p>As she turned around toward their voices after beating up the last Mafia her eyes sparkled with joy. «Hat! Bow! You came back!» She immediately jumped towards them in a big hug, clearly showing how much she missed them. Oh, how cute they were.</p><p>«It’s nice to have you back here» continued Mustache girl right after they let go «I’ve missed you so much…» and she now had to dry some tears on her eyes. This made the girls pity her and they hugged her again, this time much longer. They waited for Mu to let it all out as she couldn’t stop herself from crying. It must have been pretty hard for her in the past two months, even with the power of a time piece.</p><p>As she let go once again, she thanked both kids, but once she caught a glimpse of Slender sitting on top of one of the tents, she immediately got scared and hid behind Hat kid. «H-he came back! He came back f-for me!» she trembled. The kids looked at Slender, who was clearly the source of her fear, exchanging a puzzled look at each other. Then he figured out: «Oooooooh, nonononono, you must be mistaking me for someone else who looks just like me!» He got down from the tent «You see, we never really met each other. The one you think came for you is now under control under my constant vigilance» He continued talking and very slowly getting close to the group.</p><p>The girls, though, didn’t seem to get the hint of what was going on and exchanged even more confused looks. He really had to explain it all, didn’t he?</p><p>Mustache girl, on the other hand, was getting more scared as he got closer, but since the girls were with her, she knew she was safe. </p><p>With a short sigh Slender stopped moving and began the argument: «You girls remember what happened the last time you met Mu?». The girls reluctantly nodded. It was still a touchy subject to all of them, but it had to be faced for how it really went.</p><p>«If you remember clearly, a big white cross appeared in the sky behind Mu when she got angry. At the same time, Mu’s left eye became almost completely black and a strange shadow was right behind her shoulder. From her point of view, the sight must have become slightly blurry and it must have all seemed to be a dream, as if she was moving but not in full control of her actions. She must have also felt very tired other than being constantly angry at you»</p><p>The girls had to focus, but after a short while they realized what he was saying was true. Even Mustache girl had to admit all she remembered was as unclear as one’s dream after a full night’s sleep. Their looks became more confused than before but Bow seemed to have understood what Slender was trying to say, as she suddenly gasped and pointed her finger towards him. «Are you trying to say that-»</p><p>«Yes. The mixture of raw power coming from the many time pieces shattered in one place and Mu’s fit of rage have attracted a being I discovered only from a short time. It usually lived inside me, but when we made that magical link the first time we met, our bond became weaker and it was attracted to more stable bonds. Since it’s a being made of chaos, it found the perfect source of it by possessing Mustache Girl exactly that day. I bet she had pain on all her left side of the body for more than a week after that incident, much like a sunburn, accompanied by recurring nightmares…»</p><p>The girls looked ad Mu, pitying her for what she had experienced. They thought they couldn’t imagine how terrified she must have been for what she went through.</p><p>«That being reformed a bond with me as soon as we finished the battle both because you were tired and I made myself corporeal again. The sudden outburst of power has damaged its form and is now confined to be a liquid blob uncapable of normal speech and it is now safely recovering inside the ship, in a place hidden to all but me and the kids. It calls himself “Destruction” and it is the only one responsible for the escalation that happened that day. Without them, I’m sure it would have all ended much sooner and easier»</p><p>Now that both the alien girls understood the source of Mustache girl’s fears, they knew they had to reassure her. «Slender is right, we saw that being and he admitted his crimes in front of us. He could not do it in front of you because that same day we had to contain him to prevent other accidents happening again» Said Hattie, turning to the still shaking Mu hiding behind her and patting her back to calm her.</p><p>«He also became much chiller than that day» added Bow. Now both girls were looking at Mu with slight smiles trying to tell her it was all okay. They were all waiting for her response.</p><p>«Well… I trust you. You are my friends and you saved the world more than once, so if you say he is a good guy then I believe you» she shakily replied, not fully convinced yet, but still determined to give that person in front of her the benefit of the doubt.</p><p>«I’m sorry I had to talk about that day, but there was no other way to explain what had happened. I understand it’s still a delicate subject that may cause emotional problems, but-» started Slender again, but was suddenly interrupted by Mustache girl, who was getting closer to him.</p><p>«Cut it out, we got it». A small silence fell among them before Slender got the hint of what they were actually waiting.</p><p>«Oh, where are my manners? I’m Slenderbrine, Slender for short. Nice to finally meet you, Mustache girl» he offered his hand.</p><p>«I’m Mustache girl, Mu for friends. Same here». They then shook their hands as their friendship officially started. Hat kid’s imaginary friendship level for Slender and Mu rose from “none” to “friends” in no time and she looked at Bow, both exchanging satisfied smug looks.</p><p>- 🤝 -</p><p>«Sooo… what are we going to do? Beat up some Mafia? Plan our next sabotage? Or perhaps… something else?». The crew was lazily walking around the streets in search for something interesting or a concrete reason to be there. Mustache girl was the least experienced member in terms of things to do when with friends, and it was completely understandable because it seemed that she’s had none of them for many years, probably since the Mafia came to town. Not that Slender was that far from being completely ignorant in the matter, having enjoyed those kinds of moments so rarely he didn’t even remember when was the last time he did something “fun”. </p><p>On the other hand, the alien kids were a bit more experienced: they were the only ones whose past was fairly unknown so they were the only hope to bring some action in their stationary wandering across the streets.</p><p>«Hmmm… What about hide and seek? Or maybe a game of tag!» replied Bow kid.</p><p>«Yeah, tag seems fine to me» claimed Hat kid «what do you think, Mu?»</p><p>«It’s fine to me, but… you’ll have to… explain to me how to play…» she embarrassedly had to admit with a slight shade of pink appearing over her cheeks.</p><p>«You don’t know how to play tag?!?» replied both Hat and Bow, completely shocked by such an answer.</p><p>«Let’s just say she’s had something else in her mind in the past years» Slender defended Mu’s ground «From where I come from, in ‘Tag’ someone is chosen to “have it” and has to search for the other contestants to “give it” before quickly hiding not to “have it” once again… Ok, this is the worst description of a game I’ve ever given in my life so girls, please, explain in better English»</p><p>«No, no, I think I got it. It’s basically hide and seek, right?»</p><p>«Yes, more or less» confirmed Hat kid.</p><p>«Well, now that we’ve decided, who wants to go first?» proposed Bow kid.</p><p>Silence fell upon the group. It seemed no one wanted to be the hunter in this game for some reason.</p><p>«Fine» Slender broke the ice «I’ll be it, but you better find the strangest places to hide because I’m pretty good at finding people»</p><p>«Promise not to use the GPS!» quickly said Hattie before the game could officially start.</p><p>«Alright, I promise; you’ve got 20 seconds to hide from…… NOW! One, two, three…». Slender closed his eyes to give more advantage to the girls and as he counted, he started concentrating on his other four senses.</p><p>«Quick, Mu, this way!» said Hat kid as she run away towards his right, followed by the silent steps of her mustached friend. </p><p>«What’s a GPS?» asked Mu. Hat began talking, plausibly telling her she would have explained later, but they got too far for Slender to understand the words. On his left Bow was running away, but her breath hinted some anxiety: she probably didn’t want to split up, but it was too late for her to go back as the seconds were almost over. He bet she would have tried to sneakily find the other girls but it would probably be too hard even for her.</p><p>Once the seconds were over, the hunt began. «… twenty. Ready or not, here I come!»</p><p>- ☀️ -</p><p>Finding Mu was fairly easy. Her smell was very distinctive, especially after a quick visit to her cave; it reminded him of spilled blood, burnt food and the sweat of a challenging fight. Must have been because of the fights with the Mafia right as he met her the first time that day. She hid near one of the smaller docks far from the harbor and fairly close to her base. Hat kid had to be close by because her scent of cookies and strawberry shampoo suddenly entangled with Mu’s. Taking advantage of the direction of the wind, Slender got close to the kids’ approximate position without causing alarm and he used his shapeshifting abilities to move between the shadows without making noise. Each movement had to be carefully planned because if the kids were hidden somewhere he didn’t see they could have spotted him.</p><p>Strangely enough, Mustache girl was not hiding in any bush, she was… on a beach chair… sunbathing? She was also drinking from a can, probably soda, and the smell of French fries hinted she had just eaten. Puah, too oily for his sensible nose. Slender would have said it was the Mafia who cooked the fries but since Mu didn't eat the enemy's food, it must have been fast food for sure.</p><p>«<em>You sure you don’t want to hide?</em>» whispered Hat kid from somewhere on the left. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly her position because she was far enough the background noises made it difficult to hear her.</p><p>«Yeah, I’m confident he won’t come this way. Besides, even if he comes, I’ll hear him from a mile away»</p><p>Yeah, yeah, as if. She clearly didn’t take into account the direction of the wind and his skillful training. Or more than anything else, she didn’t know how much Slender could put things on their next level.</p><p>«<em>Ok, you keep an eye over there, I will look in this direction</em>»</p><p>That’s the moment he decided to attack. He slowly got out of the shadows, making sure not to cause any sound, and as Mu closed her eyes to enjoy the sun’s warm light, he sneakily summoned another beach chair right next to hers. He got himself comfortable and before Hat could decide to turn around, he booped Mu’s nose with a finger. She opened her eyes, not expecting physical contact, and as soon as she saw him she went pale. «Boop, you’re it» he smugly said.</p><p>Right before she could understand what was going on, Slender got up and rushed towards the city. He now had to cover as much space as possible not to let Mu catch him out of anger. Unbeknownst to him, Mu was already on the run: when talking about reflexes, she was the quickest. She knew the island inside and out, it was easy for her to compensate Slender’s quick foot. He was also so predictable: she knew exactly where he would have gone and at which corner he would have turned to lose her. Smirking for how easy it was, she decided to strike right on the next corner.</p><p>As she dashed towards him, he somehow avoided her grasp. In that few moments that seemed to last forever, she realized she missed her target and she turned towards him midair completely shocked. That grin of his said it all. “I might be predictable, but so you are”. As time returned to its normal flows, Mu quickly recovered and resumed the chase, but she soon realized she lost him. Now she had to find someone else to tag… or maybe…</p><p>- 🏃 -</p><p>That was a close call. Mu was a hard prey to hunt, especially because this was her natural habitat. She knew everything about the island, so it was fairly hard for Slender to escape from that chase. Luckily, his good old 'Pride™' of his helped him get away by fooling her.</p><p>He was now on the top of the tower that confined the continuously spewing giant geyser that held up the Mafia HQ. He was fairly on plain sight, but you had to look all the way up there, and if you’re searching for someone that might be in the darkest and furthest points of the island you wouldn’t do that so often. Furthermore, the wall seemed to be too high for the girls to climb it, so he was pretty much safe up there. Or so he thought…</p><p>Slender looked around Mafia town, enjoying the view. He wondered where the other two girls would be but he didn’t plan on searching for them. As his sight wondered around, he suddenly felt something heavy on his feet. He looked down and found a Mustache girl that, with some sort of pickaxe (?!?), climbed all the wall up to where he was. And she was just a human, can you believe that? Some alien kids couldn’t do it barefoot and she did it with just a pickaxe? But worse of all, why did she have to search for him? Was her sense of vengeance that strong?</p><p>«Tag-» she said heavily panting «… you’re it». And so he let the pickaxe go, jumping from the wall in a very spectacular way. Problem was that she would have gotten herself hurt from that height because, you know, she’s just a human. As Slender almost shouted at her, she pulled a string close to her hoodie and- surprise! She had a parachute hidden all along! «Sayonara!»</p><p>-</p><p>Look at her. Giggling. She almost gave him a heart attack and she just… went away… in a homemade parachute… hidden in a backpack… after having climbed what, like- 3 meters of wall? How much was it?</p><p>Well, now Slender knew how she got down of the Mafia HQ that time…</p><p>«Back to square one I guess…». And so he jumped down from the wall, picking up that pickaxe and starting the hunt once again.</p><p>- 🪂 -</p><p>Hat kid had to change her hiding spot once Mu was tagged. She knew Mu should have hidden with her, but she sometimes was so stubborn…</p><p>She went all the way up to the last floor of the wooden structure on which the slides led to the beach below. The Mafia seemed to like it, in fact they placed one of their golden statues in it. Hat always wandered who that person was since every Mafia goon looked like each other, except for the Mafia boss and that weird Mafia with the glasses. </p><p>Thinking about him, she giggled when she remembered that time she fell on mud and he thought she was a “slime space alien”. When she realized what she was doing, she immediately put both her hands on her mouth and stopped making sounds: she had to be silent if she didn’t want whoever was tagged to notice her. She had to forcefully stop her laugh and to stay quiet; she slowly looked around to see if someone was around. That person would have surely been the tagged one.</p><p>She just checked the western side of the road and she was going to the eastern front. She would then have checked the beach and the streets below and restarted the round. Or just moved somewhere else if she sensed some danger.</p><p>Hat peeked very sneakily, knowing perfectly how to position herself so that no one could see her from both below and at her eye level. She also had to periodically check if someone was above her since she couldn’t do anything not to be seen from that direction.</p><p>She was just in front of the slides when she tripped over a plank. She almost got balanced again when someone decided to come by and push her once more. «TAAAG! You’re it!».</p><p>Slender attacked right in the perfect moment: he gave Hat the last push to make her fall down the slide by tagging her on the shoulder. He knew she was a good platformer, so he was absolutely sure she wouldn’t receive any damage from such a well-timed prank. As Hat fell, she had just the time to look at who made her fall before the slide’s yellow walls surrounded her.</p><p>A long, comical yell came from the slide that made Slender laugh. It was just as the old shows his parents watched, and the best part was that she actually fell for it, <em>literally</em>. Just this thought made him laugh hysterically and once he peeked with the corner of his eye that Hat kid got herself up, with sand all over her hair, he continued: «HAAAH! Did you see that?!? You literally <strong>FELL</strong> FOR IT!!! HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAA».</p><p>Hat kid was not happy. She had to admit it sounded fun and all, especially for the wordplay, but she now had sand all over her hair, and surely some grains in her clothes too. She hated when that happened and it was all his fault.</p><p>Slender was still laughing when he <em>felt</em> time slowing around him. Thanks to his quick reflexes he was able to counter her ability and he could move his head to find… a Hattie with a serious face. And when she had that face, things were taking a bad turn. She was furiously climbing the yellow slide. In normal circumstances it would have not been a threat because she wasn’t able to climb it, but those were all but normal circumstances. Her increasingly faster rate of climbing scared Slender, knowing she was not going to let him go easily: he had to act and fast. «Oh, no you don’t! If you use your hats, then I’ll use some of my tricks too!»</p><p>He ran to the side of the wooden structure and jumped. In a flash of light, fragile purple wings appeared from his shoulders, granting him flight. Slender quickly rose up to a point where he thought Hat couldn’t reach him, but when he turned around to check on her, she had already dashed towards him. She was a few centimeters away from him and her eyes were full of determination, while Slender’s full of terror.</p><p>Are those kids that vindictive, were they taking the game to the next level, or were they just enjoying their free time? Hard to say, but he had to expect such reactions.</p><p>Not having the time to make any movement with his body to prevent Hattie from tagging him back, Slender had to concentrate on not falling because of the impact. As time flowed again as usual, Hattie grabbed him by his left leg, quickly said «Tag, you’re it!», swung a little and let go, landing on a roof nearby. Slender stabilized himself and turned around, making sure the child was safe and sound from such a long fall. Fortunately, she was all right and running away from him.</p><p>«These children…». He had to return to square one once again. The only one left to try and tag was Bow kid, but where could she be hiding?</p><p>- 🎀 -</p><p>That day, Bow remembered why she didn’t play tag for a long time. She had always been the anxious type, and feeling the adrenaline run through her body when she heard Slender’s steps close to her was not exactly her type of fun.</p><p>It’s not like she didn't like to play tag at all, it’s just that she didn't like to play it <em>alone</em>, something that somehow ended up always happening. </p><p>That was her fourth time a tagged moved right next to her, and she didn’t want that to be her last one. When Slender tagged Mu, she was right next to the stairs to enter town and both of them ran right in front of her. She was so scared by Mu’s vindictive eyes she froze on spot, and she didn’t move until she couldn’t hear them making a mess in the distance. She was so frightened she ran half town before putting herself together.</p><p>When Mu tagged Slender back, she was below them, hiding behind one of those wooden crates scattered around town. She saw Mu flying away in her parachute (what a cute idea!) and after a few minutes, Slender slowly followed her, suddenly stopping right a few meters away from the crate Bow was hiding behind of. He looked like one of the wolves of her homeworld, fiercely hunting his prey and waiting in the shadows for the right moment to strike. After a minute of silence (and heavy breathing), he wandered off.</p><p>And last, but surely not least, when Slender tagged Hat, she was silently hiding next to the Mafia with the swimming pool. From where she was, she could see and hear the whole scene (it was actually funny), but once Slender got tagged she had to hide again, or else he would have rushed towards her and tagged her. She felt his gaze falling on where she was hiding, but after a very long minute, she saw him flying towards the other side of the island, with his back turned towards her. That was her chance to go away.</p><p>After running around for a few more minutes, she found the perfect spot: it was one of the various alleyways and luckily one of the few without smelly garbage (yuck!). There was an empty dumpster nearby and she could hide beside it. Some moments later, she heard tiny and familiar steps getting closer and closer. When she peeked from the metal container, she saw Hat kid running to the alleyway right in front of where she was hiding. How lucky, she was finally not alone! Now she just had to make Hat notice her since she was clearly not the tagged one.</p><p>Hattie hid behind a pile of small crates, and as she peeked to make sure nobody followed her, she spotted Bow on the other side. They exchanged relieved looks and hand waves; Bow was going to talk to her, but her friend quickly gestured her not to do that. She probably thought she was being followed.</p><p>And as expected, Bow started to hear heavy footsteps coming closer to her. It was Slender, nobody else could have made such heavy steps. He was clearly trying to scare Hat kid, but as a consequence he was scaring Bow too, and she was getting quite upset about it. </p><p>When the steps came to a stop, she felt her heartbeat raising and raising, her breath going <em>faster and faster</em>. She decided to peek just a little from the side of the dumpster and in an instant she saw Slender in the middle of the road, looking upwards and… smelling the air? Oh, peck, it was her doom. He would have surely smelled her because she was not in a dirty alleyway like Hattie did. He moved and acted like wolves on their hunt, and Bow was probably her next prey.</p><p>After what seemed to be like minutes (but were barely some seconds), Slender turned around and his steps got further. Was he really going to Hat kid’s alleyway? Or was he going away? She <strong>had</strong> to know, so she peeked once again- and he was standing, there, looking at Hat kid’s alley, smelling some more. The sight of his back made her startle, and once she returned to her hiding spot, she mistakenly moved a glass bottle on the ground with her leg. <em>PECK!</em> She made her spot crystal clear! She knew Slender would have turned and tagged her. She really didn’t want to play anymore. She just wanted this to end and to go back home.</p><p>Predictably, Slender turned around, trusting his ears more than his nose. He really hoped it wasn’t just some rat, or else he would have probably lost Hat kid’s last tray.</p><p>Bow could feel his steps growing bigger and bigger, heavier and <strong>heavier</strong>. The alley was getting darker and <strong>darker</strong>; her breathing faster and <em><strong>faster</strong></em>. She was sweating cold, her sight more and more blurry; adrenaline ran through her body and panic was dominating her brain. S-she was not ready t-to die!</p><p>Trembling on the side of an alley behind a dumpster, Bow was huddled and she held her head with her tiny hands. Slender could spot tears coming from her eyes. How could he make her play a game of tag in such conditions?</p><p>«Come on, Bow. The game is over. It’s time to go home». Hat kid never heard him talking like that. His tone of voice was comforting, and it was strange coming from a person like him. She peeked from her hiding spot and saw him on his knees.</p><p>Maybe Hat could not see from where she was hiding, but Mu surely could. She was right on top of one of the buildings of the alleyway and she saw the whole scene from above, sure not to get caught by him. She didn’t expect for things to turn like that: he was now hugging the little sobbing mess Bow was in that moment. Everyone heard him, the game was over. No more hiding was needed.</p><p>Hat got out of the alleyway and reached her friends, joining the hug. After a while, Mu came from the street and joined too. “Let’s maybe not play tag next time” was their unanimous thought.</p><p> </p><p>Bow feared wolves to the very bone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a good spot for taking a break.<br/>Drink some water, turn the phone off for 5 minutes, enjoy some Peace and Tranquility.</p><p>- First chapter with 8 full pages! -</p><p>~ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GW6sLrK40k">Some music for chilling </a>~</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you want to, you can follow me on tumblr.</p><p>slenderbrine-ita.tumblr.com</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>